How One of One, the Studio Behind the Official Maradona Label, Took a Brand World From Concept to Sold Out With Higgsfield

2026-07-14 · other · Higgsfield, Alex Shalson · original

Topic: Studio work & business (also: Productions (case studies), Pre-production & story, Image generation & editing, Post-production & finishing) · mode: Case study · tags: guest or collaboration, one creator's experience

In this Higgsfield case-study interview, Alex Shalson of the AI-native studio One of One explains how his team built the brand world for the first official Maradona apparel label, timed around the World Cup. He says the hard part was keeping one visual language across every asset, and that Higgsfield made this possible by covering image, video and motion in one place, with a model picked for each task. In his view the quality debate is basically over for stills, while AI video is earlier on the same curve and improving fast. His advice to studios: adopt AI video fast or be left behind, but compete on taste, because the models are only instruments and the studio is the conductor.

What is said

One of One

What is said

★ — how much it matters to the source.

★★ Alex Shalson founded One of One, an AI-native creative studio working across sport, entertainment and brand, building it with his creative co-founder Jack Hershman.
★★ Alex Shalson says One of One grew out of a question he and Jack Hershman asked: can content featuring the likeness of sporting talent be made without the talent on set?
★★ Alex Shalson says being AI-native lets One of One move faster, at more scale and with more creative freedom, while traditional talent-led content depends on the talent physically showing up, which caps output and creativity.
★★★ Alex Shalson says a new asset class is emerging, the AI rights to a person's likeness, and that paired with AI production and creative direction it can yield content and brand worlds equal to traditional work.
★★ Alex Shalson says the Maradona project was the launch of the first official Maradona apparel brand, produced under Electa Global's exclusive licence and timed around the World Cup.
★★ Alex Shalson says One of One built the Maradona brand world from the real places, symbols, memories and fan culture that shape how people remember Maradona, building on the existing mythology.
★★ Alex Shalson: The Maradona brief was a complete brand world as one creative system, produced for web, social, press, product imagery, campaign films and editorial.
★★★ Alex Shalson says the hard part of the Maradona campaign was keeping one visual language across every asset, and Higgsfield made it possible by covering image, video and motion in one platform with a model chosen per task. · Higgsfield AI
★★ Alex Shalson: One of One's first stage is creative development and art direction: static images made on Higgsfield present the concept to the client as a visual storyboard, refined on feedback until the direction is locked before full execution. · Higgsfield AI
★★ Alex Shalson: For talent work, Alex Shalson says One of One agrees at the concept stage what must stay true to the person (how they look, move and feel), which becomes the rulebook for all later work.
★★ Alex Shalson: In execution, One of One routes each asset type to the model that serves it best, experimenting per shot, and stays on Higgsfield through upscaling, sound and final assembly. · Higgsfield AI, upscaling
★★ Alex Shalson: For concept visuals and building the Maradona brand world, One of One used image generation, primarily Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2 and Cinema Studio, choosing a model per look and task. · Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2, Cinema Studio
★★ Alex Shalson: For the Maradona campaign and product imagery, Cinema Studio and the Nano Banana models did much of the editorial and e-commerce work, where consistency across the collection mattered most. · Cinema Studio, Nano Banana
★★ Alex Shalson: For the Maradona campaign films and animation, One of One used Seedance 2.0 and Kling 3.0. · Seedance 2.0, Kling 3.0
★★ Alex Shalson says capturing the Buenos Aires and Napoli atmospheres of the Maradona brand world conventionally would mean shooting on location with crews and creative, production and casting agencies in several countries, costing much time and money before a single frame.
★★ Alex Shalson says One of One built the whole Maradona world with AI instead of physical shoots, running many workstreams in parallel in one place with one team, on a tight timeline. · Higgsfield AI
★★★ Alex Shalson says the quality debate is basically over for stills, which now clear the bar for most commercial work, while AI video is earlier on the same curve and improving fast.
★★ Alex Shalson says a serious studio knows which tool clears the bar for which job and releases work only when it meets the standard, and that this discipline earns client trust.
★★ Alex Shalson: The Maradona Official launch sold out its first collection in three weeks and reached over ten million people.
★★ Alex Shalson says working on Higgsfield lets One of One take on whole brand worlds end to end with turnarounds of weeks instead of months, and lets a lean team do projects that would normally need a much bigger outfit. · Higgsfield AI
★★ Alex Shalson says the set of briefs his studio can confidently accept grows every month, as things not ready six months earlier now are, and the studio must be honest with clients about what is ready.
★★★ Alex Shalson tells other studios to bring AI video in, warning that those not using it will be left behind.
★★★ Alex Shalson compares AI models to instruments and a platform like Higgsfield to the orchestra, and warns studios not to mistake the instrument for the music: the studio is the composer and conductor, where taste and craft live. · Higgsfield AI

“not to mistake the instrument for the music”
★★★ Alex Shalson advises studios to adopt AI tools fast but put their energy into becoming better conductors, since once everyone has the same tools only what a studio does with them sets it apart.

Threads in this video

restate · How do you keep a character the same across shots? — For talent work, Alex Shalson says One of One agrees at the concept stage what must stay true to the person (how they look, move and feel), which becomes the rulebook for all later work.
restate · Which image model should be used for keyframes, edits, text and outfits? — For concept visuals and building the Maradona brand world, One of One used image generation, primarily Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2 and Cinema Studio, choosing a model per look and task.
restate · How do you keep a location, product or prop the same across shots? — For the Maradona campaign and product imagery, Cinema Studio and the Nano Banana models did much of the editorial and e-commerce work, where consistency across the collection mattered most.
restate · Which video model should be used for realistic people and film shots? — For the Maradona campaign films and animation, One of One used Seedance 2.0 and Kling 3.0.
restate · How big should an AI production team be and how should it be organised? — Alex Shalson says working on Higgsfield lets One of One take on whole brand worlds end to end with turnarounds of weeks instead of months, and lets a lean team do projects that would normally need a much bigger outfit.

Mentioned

Central: Alex Shalson · Maradona Official · One of One

Also: People: Jack Hershman · Maradona

Organizations: Electa Global

Concepts: upscaling

Places: Buenos Aires · Naples

Events: World Cup

Products: Cinema Studio · Kling 3.0 · Nano Banana · Nano Banana 2 · Nano Banana Pro · Seedance 2.0

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